The Runaway
by Ivette Boveda
Summary: Don helps a worried father find his runaway daughter, who may have joined a cult. Will our favorite agent be able to find her before it's too late? Last Chapter now posted!
1. Chapters 1 and 2

**Author's note: Chapters 1-20 or 21 were written before I saw the Season 3 premiere. Also, I wrote a few chapters of this fic before I found out that there was a desktop in the Eppes home.**

I looked at myself in the mirror. My prosthetic eye looked almost like my real one. Charlie had seen to that, insisting on buying it for me. I planned to pay him back. Thankfully, I had just gotten my PI license a few months ago. Again, I checked my clothes, as I was about to meet a client.

Soon, I was out the door. My client, a Mr. Vincent Fullerton, wanted to locate his runaway daughter. It was nice to get a case that didn't involve following some jackass who was getting some on the side. Fullerton was a good friend of a client from my last case, which involved worker's comp fraud. We met at a bar.

"Thank you for coming Mr. Eppes" We shook hands before sitting down. The place was rather dim and had an 'Alaskan gold rush' them to it with moose heads, servers dress like prospectors, and a couple of fake 'saloon girls'.

"Let's get down to business. Here is the note she left." He gave it to me.

The note said

_"I've decided to live a new kind of life so I'm going. Don't worry about me."_

"The cops had their handwriting expert take a look at it" he explained.

"So it is her writing?"

"yes"

"Did you notice any strange behavior in the days or weeks before her disappearance? Any new friends or boyfriends?"

"No new friends" he shook his head. "But her school work had been slipping."

"I see"

He continued" here is are numbers and addresses of all her friends. They might know something"

"Thank you" I said. "Do you have any pictures?"

"Yeah, here they are" he gave them to me. "I just hope she's okay"

"I'll do the best I can to find her" I told him, not wanting to think about what often happens to runaways.

We talked some more, and agreed to him paying me twenty grand a week, plus expenses. Then, we said our goodbyes. However, I had one more thought.

"Could you tell someone at the school that you've hired me? That way, the teachers will be more willing to talk" I with a sigh realized that I didn't have the badge that could open doors.

"Of course. I'll also alert the parents of her friends"

"Thanks."

Around four, I started to go to the various friend's houses. The first friend's name was Kathy. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Don Eppes, Private Investigator. I was hired to find Elizabeth Fullerton"

She opened the door. "Her father called a while back to let me know. He says that you used to be in the F.B.I"

"Yeah I was"

"Come in"

I was lead into a large living room with leather couches, and wooden flooring.

"Kathy is upstairs. Let me go get her" She excused herself. Soon, the two returned.

"I already talked to the cops" she told me. Hmmm

"Mr. Eppes used to be in the F.B.I. He might pick up on something they missed.

Gingerly, she sat down.

"So...how long have you known Elizabeth?"

"Three years."

"Did she seem different before her disappearance?"

"She seemed to care less about school."

"Any complaints about her dad?"

"The usual stuff" she shrugged.

"Any new friends?"

"No" she shook her head. I wished that the mom would go to another part of the house or something, but it looked like she wasn't going to budge. "But she spent less time with me and her other friends"

"I see."

After a bit, I left, and went on to the next friend, Sue. Thankfully, she was home alone, except for a little brother.

"Did she seem different before her disappearance?" I asked.

"She started to care less about everything like school and her friends" she said. We were at the dining room while she separated grapes and cut an apple for the little boy.

"Do you think she maybe had a boyfriend on the sly?" I asked, hoping that without a parent, she'd be willing to admit that. Maybe some jerk had convinced her to leave home.

"It would be possible, I mean, she had her own car." she answered. "You think a boyfriend made her run away?"

"It's been known to happen" I told her.

"You should know...Mr. Fullerton said that you used to be an F.B.I agent. Why did you quit? Sounds like a cool job!"

"I lost an eye in the line of duty"

"Oh...I'm sorry" she served the 'salad' the the boy..

"At least it wasn't both of them" I shrugged it off.

"Good point" she said. "Are you going to interview her other friends?"

"Yeah. I've already talked to Kathy" I then had a thought "Do you know of any chatrooms Elizabeth liked to go to?"

"Not really" then she seemed to be remembering something "She used myspace! I just remembered because I haven't used my in a while"

"Here's my email" I wrote it down for her. "Send me a link of her personal page."

"Will do"

"You could like investigate the 'friends' on her personal site"

"That's the plan" I told her.

I talked to the rest of the friends on the list. None of them hadanything new.

So, I went home, and decided to find out just who Elizabeth was hanging with on myspace .The internet is a great hiding place for perverts.

I got myself an account on myspace, as a young woman named Gigi Mann. My plan was to start talking to her myspace 'friends.'. That list was displayed on her page.

She had about fifty 'friends'. Thirty of them were male. I really wished I could access her account to see who she talked with the most. So, I called her father, and asked to see her room. He agreed and gave me his addressMaybe she had the password written somewhere, or there could be some other useful information.

I knocked on a cherry wood door when I arrived. He soon let me in, and gave me the promised check.Then the man led me to her room.

"Take as long as you need" he said, then left. After some searching, I found a diary. After skimming through it, I found a very important passage.

_"Brian is my favorite myspace friend. He's smart, and has a great sense of humor._ _He's been telling me about this new lifestyle he has adopted. Says that he's been learning a lot from Morlock, his mentor and advisor. "Life is about Power' he tells me. The elements can work in your favor'_

'Could this be a cult?" I wondered, but continued to read. Another passage lent an important clue.

"I finally got to meet Brian. He's cuter than his picture. We ata Carl's junior. He told me lots of stuff about Morlock and himself.

With the father's permission, I took the diary home. Then, I checked out Brian's profile, and his 'friends'. After that, I wrote him an introductory note writing what I thought he wanted to read. Then I continued to read the diary. Brian seduced this poor young girl, then got her interested in what appeared to be some cult called 'The Exalted. From the looks of it, it was a local one. Why hadn't I heard of it? I called Megan.

"Reeves?"

"Hey Megan!"

"Hey Don! How is it going?" she asked. Megan still blamed herself for what happened to my eye. I'm still haunted by the look in her eyes when she first saw me with the eye patch. I've tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault. Risk is part of the job. Even a great agent like her can't eliminate it one hundred percent. I remember one time, when I ran into her while following a cheating husband; I could sense the pity in her, David and Colby.

"Fine...I was wondering, have you ever heard of a cult called The Exalted?"

"No...,but I could ask around, and check our databases" she offered.

"Thanks!"

"Is this for a client?"

"I've been hired to find a runaway, and I think she might have joined that cult"

"I see"

After a bit, we both hung up. I checked my email, and it turns out that someone had sent me a private message. Could it be Brian? To my delight it was.

"_Hey Gigi! How are ya? You seem like a smart, wonderful girl"_ the message began. I rolled my eyes. _"It's cool how you are open to all things such as auras, spirits, and magical energy. You seem to have great taste in music. I'm sorry to hear that you find your parents to be annoying. Anyway, I gotta get to work. I'll talk to ya soon!_

Brian"

In my next message, I wrote:

_"Thanks for replying so soon! Where do you work? Is it somewhere cool? I hope so! I'm stuck at Starbucks with an asshole assistant manager. What's also annoying is how complicated people get with their orders. They want only two percent, soy, light on this, light on the other, heavy on that, argg! I want more than this in my life! Well, I gotta go, my mom wants to use the phone"_

"How's it going?" Dad asked as he sat down with a cup of tea.

"Well, I found the guy who got her to run away. I'm pretending to be a young woman on a site my client's daughter used to meet people.

"I've heard about cops doing that" Dad nodded.

"I asked him where he works. Hopefully, he'll give me an answer"

"Good Luck!"

The next day, Dad let me use the computer in his office to check for messages because Charlie had taken his laptop to work and we didn't have a desktop at home. Dealing with the loss of my eye had been hard on Him. When he first saw me in the hospital with the patch, his eyes were pained, though he tried to cover it up by making jokes about pirates. Like Megan, Charlie felt guilt as well, as he had been working closely with us on the case.

"You should get yourself a computer." Dad suggested as we both sat around his desk. "You've gotten a few clients and its tax deductible"

"I haven't got time." I told him, as I checked for messages, but there weren't any. Then, I called Megan.

"I checked and the F.B.I hasn't really investigated a cult called the Exalted" she told me.

"Could you call the Juvenile division of the LAPD? Maybe they've dealt with it?"I requested. I'd do it myself, but they corporate more with Megan. God I missed that badge!

"Sure"

"Thanks!"

Soon, we hung up.

Dad asked.

"What did Megan say?"

"The F.B.I has no records or anything on that cult. She agreed to call the juvenile division of the L.A.P.D, though" I said, and again checked for messages. There was a new one from Brian.

TBC


	2. Chapter 3

_"Hey Gigi! How the hell are ya?"_ the note began _"I work at a bookstore. I work varying shifts depending on the day of the week. Business has been slow these past few days, so I just goof off with a co worker, or read something. I'm sorry to hearabout your job at Starbucks. Sounds Shitty. Today, I read an awesome book about auras! Everyone has them! Did you know that? They come in all sorts of colors. Anyway, modern life really can suck the spark out of a person.Anyhow, I gotta go grab a bite. See ya later!"_

"Anything useful?" Dad asked me after a bit.

"Not really. "I shook my head.

"If that girl is in a cult, her father will need to get a deprogrammer" he commented

"Yeah..." I agreed.

Hours passed, and Megan called me. Looks like she had gotten on it right away. Probably because of guilt.

"I was passed to the Special Victims Squad, " she said. "The lieutenant told me that she and her team haven't come across anyone trying to get kids to join a cult. It's not the MO of any of the predators they've been investigating.

"Are they sure?"

"Yeah."

"There are thousand of people on myspace. They can't talk to every one of them" I sighed. "Thanks Megan!"

"Don't mention it. I'm sorry I couldn't get you more" There again was the guilt.

"Is it busy for you?" I asked.

"The usual. You know how it is" she said.

Soon, we said our goodbyes and hung up.

"Megan didn't have anything for you, I take it?" Dad asked.

"No."

Soon, I returned home, and checked the messages. Charlie had installed a second line for my new business.

I had one message from a potential client. I called him and we meet an hour later. Seems like he felt that his lawyer wife was plowing through more than just legal briefs. He paid me half in advance, gave me the needed information, and we parted ways.

I followed the wife for a while, and got some pictures. When she returned to her house, I went home and checked for messages from Brian. There were none.

"Got a date?" I asked Dad when he came down the stairs in a suit. Charlie graded papers

"Yeah, with Eva"

"Eva?" I couldn't believe it.

"I met her during some shindig at Cal Sci that Charlie invited me to. She's smart, funny, and we share a lot of the same views."

"They really hit it off!" my brother grinned.

I nodded. She seemed like the kind of person, who had gone to a few protests in her time, like Dad. It was great to see him dating again. His and Charlie's life had stopped for a while, when I first lost my eye, as I also had gotten quite a few injuries and had broken some bones. In that condition I hadn't been the easiest person to deal with as I didn't like to be taken care of. But they pulled through for me.

"Have fun" I smiled, and he went out the door.

"Wanna order a pizza?" I suggested to Charlie

"Sure!"

TBC


	3. Chapter 4

Charlie and I had a pizza with four meats and extra cheese. It tasted awesome, and the cheese was great.

"So have you gotten any other clients lately?" He asked as we ate. Charlie was always interested in what I was doing.

"Yeah. I was hired to watch a married woman," I told him. "I got some pictures of her with some younger guy."

"Are you going to tell the client?" Charlie asked, scratching his chin.

"I'm going to follow her around tomorrow." I told him.

"What about the runaway?" Charlie asked. "Aren't you in the middle of that case too?"

"I'm waiting for a message from the guy who got her to run away." I said, then I had an idea. "Why don't I see if they've got a website or something?"

"Since when do cults have websites?" Charlie gave me a puzzled look.

"Can't hurt to look, right?" I shrugged, and used his laptop.

"Don, I made an appointment for you at the optometrist," he said as I looked. "For next week."

"Why?" I asked.

"You need to take care of your remaining eye!" he said

"I can't afford to go !" Since I was no longer in the F.B.I, I lacked insurance.

"I'll pay for the visit?" he suggested. I knew he was concerned, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Hey, buddy, I can't have you paying everything!" I argued. "Especially since I'm working now…" When Charlie had taken over my expenses when I got injured, and it had hurt my pride.

"You're not going to be able to be a private investigator if something happens to your remaining eye," he said in a warning tone of voice.

I rolled my eyes, and found, to my disappointment, that there were no messages.

The next morning, I followed the same woman again, took some more pictures, wrote a report, and talked to the distraught and overtired husband. Compared to telling parents that their kids were dead, this actually wasn't too bad, though I did feel for the men or women when I showed them evidence of the cheating.

What's so funny is that I used to make fun of people who did this for a living. Anyway, cheating cases are just my bread and butter until my reputation can allow me to focus on more interesting ones.

I checked my email and phone messages. Sadly they were both empty. So, I thought about how I was going to find that girl. Eventually, this guy was gonna want to set up a meeting. What if I got Amita to pretend to be me? We could arrange for a meeting in a public place, and I'd be nearby the whole time. I didn't like getting civilians involved in this kind of thing, but I had no choice, and we were talking about a young kid. Besides, Megan was to old for the part of Gigi Mann.

So, I went to see Amita. Thankfully, she worked at a different department, though Charlie could be visiting her.

After some searching, I saw her hunched over some papers. Her hair was loose, and she wore jeans

"Amita! How are you?" I asked.

Busy with midterms," she said.

"Maybe you'd like to mix it up a bit?" I offered.

"Huh?'

"I need some help finding a runaway"

" What can I do?"

"See, on myspace, I made up an account, to become friends with the guy who influenced her into leaving home to join the cult. His MO seems to consist of becoming friendly online, then setting up times to meet in person..."

"You'd like me to pretend to play the persona you invented?" she asked. She was a smart girl. "And meet this guy?"

"I'll be nearby the whole time," I promised her. "And the meeting will be in a public place. It's for the sake of a young girl!"

"Like Prita?" she asked.

"Yeah. From what I've seen, this guy does multiple visits before getting them to join the cult."

She paused, thinking a bit, then said, "I'll do it…"

"Great! Just don't mention it to Charlie. Thanks!" I told her.

"Don't worry I won't. When is the meeting?"

"It's not set up yet," I told her. "But I'll let you know."

Now if only I could afford to get Amita wired...things would be perfect! Can't have everything, I guess.

"How old is Gigi Mann supposed to be?" Amita asked.

"Eighteen. She works at Starbucks part time while going to Pasadena City College" I told her.

"Do you think I could pass for eighteen?" Amita asked

"I'm sure you can!" I said. That was always a delicate question to answer.

"I guess I'll do something different with my hair and makeup" Amita mused. "I could pick up a copy of seventeen"

"What's your email, so I can send you Gigi's myspace page?"

Amita wrote it down on a small sheet of paper, and gave it to me.

We said our goodbyes and left.

I went to Dad's office to email Amita andcheck for messages. Finally, there was one

_"Sorry I haven't been writing much." the note began "I went on a retreat with some friends. Morlock lead it. He talked about how modern life can suck your soul and lifeif you're not careful. We went somewhere out in the boonies..."_On and on it went talking about the wisdom of this Morlock guy. Then, there came a passage of interest to me "_I really think that you could benefit from his teachings. Sounds like you could use them..."_ After finishing this message, I sent one

_"I agree! Morlock sounds like a very smart guy! Modern life does suck all too often. I'd love to meet him sometime, or at least maybe you and I could talk about about his wisdom and the crappiness of modern life IRL?You seem like a sweet, smart guy! I can't believe I'm asking for an IRL meeting !LOL. I usually don't do this...anyway. Let me know. Looks like my mom wants to use the phone, so I'll end this message."_

That evening, I got another message from Brian.

_"I'd love to meet sometime! Is next Tuesday good for you?"_

TBC


	4. Chapter 5

I wrote him back, agreeing to the meeting, and asking him where he'd like to meet.

By the next morning, we agreed on a place and time. I let Amita know via email.

_"Amita: Brian has agreed for the meeting to be on Tuesday, at an IN an Out around two. I've attached a mapquest of the directions. Thanks again! Please be sure to know Gigi Man as well as I do."_

After a few minutes, she responded.

_"Great! Who knows how many other girls he's lured! We really need to find out about this Morlock guy. Sorry g2g, I've got a student with a question."_

By that afternoon, I had another cheating case. A concerned wife, with whom I met at some diner doubted her husband's claims of working late. She gave me information, and a check. A friend of hers had referred her to me.

"Hey! If it isn't Johnny Cash!"

"Coop! Hey!" I exclaimed and we hugged. The man had referred to how I was dressed, with black jeans and an almost-black shirt.

"She a vic?" he asked, pointing  
out the window.

"Maybe," I said, not sure how to explain it to Coop.The problem with the Fugitive Recovery was that you lost touch – and contact.

"What do you mean maybe?"

"She's a client, Coop… I'm a private investigator now," I explained.

"YOU LEFT THE BUREAU?" Coop shouted. He couldn't  
believe it. "What happened?"

"I lost my eye ," I said. "I… I've got a  
prostetic."

"I see," he said. I could sense the pity in his voice.

"I'm not just doing cheating cases," I quickly said. "I've been hired to find a teenage runaway who was lured by some guy from this cult. They met online on myspace. I set up a meeting, and a friend of my brother's is gonna play me."

"Sounds like a good plan," he nodded.

"You know Coop, if you ever get tired of the FBI, you could always join me as a business partner," I smiled.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

We talked some more, and agreed to have dinner at that very spot around six. I gave Coop my cell number so he could call if he had to cancel or prospone.

----------------------------------------------

Finally, the fateful day came. Amita and I met outsidethe place about half an hour before. "I'll be at the next booth," I told her.

"I studied the questions you sent me," she replied with a smile.

Soon we went to our designated spots. At a good time,I ordered some food for show and eating. Before we knew it, Brian, a young man with red hair waved at her, and sat down. I was in the booth next to theirs.

"It's great to finally meet you!" he said with a charm  
that made me gag.

"Same here!" Amita pretended to gush. "It's just not quite the same reading messages rather then talking to face to face!"

"Yeah, especially with a smile like yours!"

I rolled my eyes and pretended to focus on my food.

"So...how's life going for you?" she asked.

"Great! I'm still at the bookstore, and learning lots from Morlock!"

"I'd love to meet him sometime!"

"I'll see about arranging that!" he promised. "But tell me about how things are going in your life?"

"Sucking! here I am eighteen and still living with my parents!"Amita lamented. "And working at a crappy job."

"Sorry to hear that" Brian commented

"So uh...is Morlock popular?" Amita asked. It had been one of the questions on my list.

"Yeah among people like us, who want more from life than what modernity has to offer" he assured her.

"I'd love to meet them too!" she beamed.

After a while they ordered, ate, and talked about stuff, like Morlock and his teachings.

"Wanna exchange numbers?" Amita offered.

"I don't have a phone" Brian said. No wonder I hadn't seen his name in Elizabeth's address book.

"Of any kind? Why?"

"Phones are slavery" he said.

"Oh...what if there is an emergency?" Amita sounded surprised.

"I manage" he said vaguely.

They chatted some more and he left, citing having to go to work. I discretly followed him to his car, and took down the license number. Then I returned to the In and out, to talk with Amita.

"Sorry I couldn't get any more useful information" she apologized.

"I got his license plate number." I told her, and called Megan.

"Reeves?"

"Hey Megan, could you run a license plate for me?"

"Sure!" she assented. Once I had a name, and address, I could use databases accessable to private investigators to get even more information, not to mention follow the guy around. "What's the number?"

I gave it to her, and she promised to delivery the information at the house later.

"Thanks!"

"No problem"

Soon, we both hung up, and I told Amita what the plan was.

---------------------------------------------

I got the information from Megan that night. My plan was to follow him around. The first day of tailing was uneventful. He went to work, Micky Dee's, and home. As I waited for him to leave his house the next morning, I looked at the extra mirrors on my SUV. Charlie had made some calculations, then had a body shop put them in.

Just then, someone knocked on the driver's side front window. It was Coop,with a bag from Micky Dee's.

"Hey man!" I rolled it down.

"Hey! May I join ya for a bit?"

"Sure!" I unlocked the door.

"I got something from McDonald's,and saw this car" he explained, as he noticed the mirrors, but didn't say anything about them. "Who ya tailing?"

"The guy who lured the runaway" I told him. "It's my second day"

"So you got his license plate number at that dinner?" he asked.

"Yeah, and I had a friend run it"

"Great!" he nodded, and put the seat back. "Feels like old times, doesn't it?"

"Yeah" I smiled, as he split the Egg McMuffin with me.

"What do you know about this guy so far?"

"He's got a clean record" I told him. "And comes from the midwest"

"Okay..."

"Any luck with your guy?"

"I had some tips that he went to 'frisco, so I went, but then somehow, the trail lead back here" he shrugged.

"I see" I nodded.

"So...is this P.I thing lucrative?"

"It can be ,if you play your cards right. I'm just working on building my reputation" I told him. "There are large P.I firms right here in L.A who probably rake in millions."

"Do you wanna have your own firm?" he asked me.

"I hope to maybe later, hire some PIs" I nodded.

"Bet you could use a partner" he mused.

"Coop, you're actually considering my offer?" I asked in shock.

"I got suspended" He admitted.

"What?" I shouldn't be surprised I guess, remembering all the shenanigans the two of us would do, and the regs we'd break as a team.

"It's a long story, but it's not looking good for me." Coop shook his head.

"So you're looking for this guy on the sly?" I asked.

"Yeah...He killed a little girl after escaping" he told me.

"His case got under your skin" I nodded, understanding what he was going through.

"Why don't we partner up on the runaway case? Split the costs, and the retainer?"

Before I could answer, a strange man got out of Brian's house, and Coop yelped,

"THAT'S HIM!"

TBC


	5. Chapter 6

What did this fugitive, who killed kids have to do with that cult? Quickly, we both got out of the car, and followed him on foot as he kept on walking.. Unfortunately, Coop lacked the badge and gun because he had gotten suspended.

"We need to call it in" I told Coop, and got out my phone.

I called Megan and told her about the fugitive.

Soon, the guy sat on a bus stop.

Thankfully, Megan and David came before the bus arrived, and arrested him.

"Coop was working on this unofficially. Could you not mention that you saw him?" I asked, trusting her. "And the fugitive might have killed a child.

"Sure" she nodded.

"He might be in that cult I investigated. "I said. "Coop and I saw him get out of the house of the guy who lured the runaway."

Coop and Ifollowed in my SUV and were able toview the interogation.While Megan, after making the necessary calls did ask questions about the cult, which he denied, the murder, of course, was top priority.

"The poliice detective in charge of that case, told me that it looked like the kid was killed for some sort of ritual. They found all kinds of weird shit at the crime scene." Coop told me.

"Ritual?" This guy was definitely in the cult. Thankfully, Megan left the interrogation room, and I told her what Coop told me.

"That would explain alot" she commented.

A part of me wanted to ask her to pick up Brian, but I decided against it, figuring that this undercover thing I've got going with Amita would lead me to him, Elizabeth, and more concrete evidence much more easier than hauling him in. Being a civilian investigator has slightly made me change my methods. Eventually, I decided to go, as I trusted Megan to do her job and I needed to find Elizabeth.

"Guess you'll take it up from here" I said to Megan

"You're going?" Coop asked.

"That guy is the key to finding the runaway" I responded, and explained "She's a teen!"

"Good luck, Don!"

"Call me, and I'll pick you up?" I turned to Coop.

"Sure, thanks!" he nodded.

Unfortunately, Brian was not at home. I decided to actuallygo to the bookstore itself to see who he hung out with. So I went home, checked my messages, put on a baseball cap and changed into a sweat shirt and sweat pants.Thankfully, it was not uncommon for people to hang out for hours in bookstores.

The place had lots of shelves, with a dingy rug, and a green ceiling. I went toshelf near the register picked out a book called ' Magic Kingdom for Sale, Sold', and pretended to read it.

After a while, someone came in: I couldn't believe who it was.

TBC


	6. Chapter 7

99999999999999999999999999

It was my cousin, Hope!

"Don! How are you?" she asked me, wearing shorts and a lavender shirt. We hugged.

"How have you been?" she asked in a concerned tone. Guess word of my injury had gotten around.

"Let's uh...talk outside" I said, not wanting to be discovered.

"Sure" we walked out.

"I've been doing good, private investigating is uh….pretty lucrative" I smiled.

"That's great to hear! I've met the most interesting person!"

"Really?"

"He's name is Morlock. I'm having a get togetherwith him and a few others interested in improving their lives"

Things were starting to look up. "Could I join you? We can catch up, and my injury has really shaken my world view."

"How?"

I told her a bunch of bullshit, some of it mirroring what Brian had written me.

"Morlock will know how to help you!" she assured me.

It wasn't a surprise that she'd buy into this crap. When we were kids, she liked to takeout her Ouija board, during family gatherings and try to get other cousins to play. She once made the mistake of trying to get Charlie to join her, and he lectured her about why it was impossible that ghosts would exist and that statically, it was impossible for the main piece to not be moved by human hands.

We agreed to meet at an address that she was kind enough to write down, and I left to go back home. .

Dad and Charlie arrived a while later. They weren't surprised either when I told them about Hope.

"Remember how she was obsessed with the ouija board?" Charlie remembered with a chuckle at dinner. "There'd be these fights...and mom would have to intervene"

"Don had a bad habit of teasing his poor cousin" Dad recalled with a smile.

"Mom wasn't so amused" Charlie said.

"She'd make me do extra chores." I sighed, shook my head, and added, trying to imatateher voice "You'll think twice before making fun of your poor cousin, now, won't you?"

Just then, the phone rang, by the tone, I could tell that it was on my line.

"Eppes, Investigations?" I replied.

"Hi!uh...see...I've been seeing this man for a few months..." A young woman's voice began "And I...think he's a lycanthope"

"I beg your pardon?" Did I hear that right?

"A lycanthope. You know, people who turn furry once a month. His name is Tom Perry and I need you to find out for sure"

"I'm afraid I can't investigate him" I said, hearing chuckling in the background, and a crack in the woman's voice. "See, he's the leader of my pack" With that, I hung up, with annoyance.

"What happened?" Charlie asked.

"Crank call" I replied while returning to the dining room. "Some woman claimed that she suspected her boyfriend of being a lycanthrope."

My brother laughed. "That's almost as funny as the one where some guy asked you to see if his fiancee was a dominatrix."

9999999999999999999999999999999999

I finally met with my cousin at someone's house, in Montebello. She, wearing casual clothes introduced me to people of all ages. Hope and I had the same colored eyes, but her hair was dark brown rather than coal black.

"Hi!" a gothish young woman smiled at me. She had dark leather boots, black makeup over whiteface paint, blue eyes, and shirt that had skeletons doing the tango.

"Don, this is Antha" Hope introduced us.

"Where's the famous Morlock?" I asked.

"He'll come when its the right time" Antha said.

"Okay..." this was definitely smelling even more like a cult. The house, had all kinds of new age crap, a dream catcher or two, paintings of dragons with scantily dressed woman near them, posters of band that had weird names, a medium sized tv, and an old sofa. It was just six people plus the host, who served what he called 'fairie sherbet in a puff', but was in fact foul tasting crap.

"What do you do for a living?" Antha asked.

"I'm a private investigator"

"You know, humans aren't meant to be monogamous." a woman, who looked a little older said, wearing sixties style sunglasses, for some reason. We were all sitting at the large couch.

"Either way...the clients who ask me to follow their significant others, thought it was a part of the deal." I said diplomatically.

"Of course, honesty is important." she nodded.

"Besides, I do other kinds of cases" I told her to change the subject. "Like insurance fraud, or employee theft"

Damn! Where's Brian? Where's the runaway?

"So uh... are you guys expecting anyone else, besides, Morlock?"

"No one. Two of our members went on a trip" Antha said.

"Okay" I said. Damn again! Where were they going? I hoped nothing would happen to Elizabeth. At least I would get to met Morlock and make contacts. "Where are they going?"

" San Diego"

"When are they coming back?"

"Few days"

I spent most of that evening waiting for the 'All Wise' Morlock, and talking to Antha. Hope seemed to be enjoying herself with some guy, who wore a Spinal Tap t-shirt.

"Tell me about the weirdest client you've had." Antha requested at one point.

"An agoraphobic who thought that his neighbor was a serial killer" I admitted. "I took the case for a few days for free if only to prove that the neighbor was not a serial killer. " I hadn't wanted to take the poor man's money as it would be nothing short of exploitation.

"Did you ever convince him?" she asked.

"His therapist did, I just helped" I shrugged.

"Maybe your client should sleep in a coffin. That's been very therapeutic for me"

"Really?" I'd find that creepy and morbid. Hope and her friend joined the conversation.

"I've been to her place" Hope said. "There's a heavy duty coffin in the middle of her room!"

"Was it hard to get it delivered?" Hope's friend joked.

"You've got no idea!" Antha sighed.

"I heard that they're selling coffins at Costco now." Hope remarked.

"Oh yeah...I've seen 'em!" her friend replied. "That's a great thing! Funeral homes are so exploitative!"

"They are..." I said, agreeing completely, a I remembered my own experience when Dad and I made the arrangements after mom died.

"I had my coffin custom made" Antha piped up.

9999999999999999

Finally, at ten, the famous Morlock showed up!

TBC


	7. Chapter 8

**a/n: Next Monday, I'm leaving for a three week trip. My net time, especially, during the first two weeks or so, will be limited. I'll try to write as much as I can before then. Maybe I might add another chappy to one of my other stories. Who knows?**

Morlock had bright orange hair, and blue eyes and greeted everyone in a thick irish brogue "Good evenin' !"

Everyone returned his greeting, and Hope introduced me.

"Morlock, this is Don, a cousin of mine. He's interested in joining us"

"It's always good to have new members" Morlock said with a smile and he shook my hand. "Have you been told much?"

"A little here and there, I've been mostly getting to know people" I told him. He radiated the usual kind of charm most cult leaders did.

"I told Don about our little group and what we do." Hope said.

"Let's all sit in a circle" Morlock announced.

Everyone followed his instruction.

"Sit over here!" Antha indicated a spot next to her.

"Sure" I smiled, sat down, and studied Morlock. He seemed well liked by the others. As soon as everyone settled, He turned his attention to me.

"Tell us about yourself, Don"

"I'm a private investigator, who wants more out of life." I said, worried that Hope would mention that I'm a former FBI agent.

"Don't we all?" Morlock smiled while everyone else nodded.

Then, he did a bullshit lecture that took Druid elements, Native American elements, and stuff he just pulled out from his ass. Afterwards, he excused himself to get a 'surprise' from his car. They turned out to be home made chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. After a few of the former, I felt a sense of well being, and optimism. Everyone broke into little groups and talked. I chatted amicably with Antha. She was in her late twenties, and worked as a vet tech. I couldn't get enough of the cookies; they were delicious and even better than mom's! Several oatmeal cookies later, everything started to seem different. I smelled apple cinnamon, sour cream, onions, and steak all at the same time. The spider Antha had tattooed on her neck seemed to be moving! Then, I saw a corpse's head rolling around.

"Morlock puts stuff in the cookies...to help us better connect with our world and reality" Antha said.

"Oh..." I was feeling overwhelmed.

"Stick with the chocolate chip cookies..." she recommended and I did so. Then, Antha suggested with a smile, "Why don't we go to my place?"

"I uh...have a tail to do later..." I lied. She was a little young for me, and while cute, didn't seem to be my type.

"With all the oatmeal cookies you've had, you're gonna tell your client that the tail pranced around with fairies." Antha laughed. I could have almost sworn that the dismembered head laughed too in a deep voice...

"So..uh….ecstasy and LSD are the keys to finding out about the world and reality?" I asked to see if those were the ingredients. Also, I dreaded that I might have to call Charlie or Dad for a ride.

"He doesn't use those, silly goose!"

"What then? I'm just curious" I made myself sound casual.

"Morlock is not at liberty to tell us..." she said. "Besides, I've tried ecstasy and it feels different."

"Oh...okay.,..." I had my doubts, as neither of us was exactly sober.

At that very moment, the dismembered head began to sing Monty Python's lumberjack song off tune. It even wore a lumberjack hat over the bald head, and semi decomposed face. If Morlock wasn't putting LSD in the cookies, my name is Donna.

"What are you seeing?" she asked; my eyes were transfixed onthe head. I told her, and she laughed.

"Your belt was insulting me."

"Oh...How long before this wears off?"

"It might take you a while..."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We do that to all the noobs..."

"Thanks a lot" I thought.

Just when I thought this evening couldn't get weirder, it did.

TBC

**sorry this chappy is kinda short.**


	8. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Starting Monday July 10th, I'll be on a three to four week vacation, and will have limited access to the internet, especially during the first week or so. **

"I'm gonna go take a walk" Antha announced "Wanna come with?"

"sure..." I agreed, if only because despite the state I was in, a part of me worried about her walking in that state after dark.

I left the house with Antha. The street lights seemed to change color, and blink a lot.

"Are the lights changing color on you?" she asked me.

"Yeah..." I admitted.

"Let's make crank calls!" she suggested

"It's okay...I uh...should be getting home.." I mused, as some goblins, sitting on a ford truck seemed to be laughing at me.

"Do you have a cell...?"

"Yeah...but..."

"Gimme it!"

"It's low on battery..." I said lamely.

"It'll be fun!" she tried to reach into my jacket pocket. My reflexes and the effect of my training were off, so my struggles against her finding it were lame. Soon, she had my phone in her hand.

"Hey! Use your own phone! Come on!" I protested.

"Don't be a doob!" she rolled her eyes. "Let me call someone on your list..."

"No!" I tried to grab the phone from her, but she ran, and ran.

"Antha! Gimme the phone!"

I ran after her, but soon she was making the call, after looking at my list.

"Hello? Don's Dad?" she said into the phone as I cringed. After listening for a bit, she said "Who am I? What matters is that evil mice have captured your son and they want to take his brain!"

Finally, I grabbed the phone from her...

"Dad! Sorry...uh...she just took the phone from me..."

"You sound different Donnie..."

"Morlock uh...gave everyone spiked cookies " I admitted reluctantly. They would have found out anyway.

"Would you like a ride home?" he sounded worried.

"Sure...dad...thanks...I'll wait out here..." I agreed, realizing that I wasn't much use to anyone stoned, so I gave him the address.

Antha pouted when I hung up "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah...My Dad's picking me up" I told her. "Do you have someone to give you a ride...?"

"No..." she said...a little too quickly.

"I'll ask him to give you a ride."

"Thanks!"

Quickly, I went to say my goodbyes, especially to Hope. Then, Antha and I were in front of the home of our host.

To my chagrin, Charlie was in the car with Dad. My brother got out of the car. It was hard enough that I had to borrow money from him, now he was seeing me stoned.

"You okay man? Dad says that the cult leader spiked some cookies?" he looked worried.

"Yeah..." I tried to shrug it off...

"I figured you'd need someone to drive your car back" Charlie continued.

"Thanks Buddy!..." I said, and introduced Antha "This is Antha...I was hoping Dad could give her a ride as well"

Soon, I hopped into Dad's car with her.

"Dad...this is Antha. She needs a ride because she had the cookies as well" I said. She sat in the back.

"Hi Mr. Eppes!" she said in a bubbly voice.

"Were you the one who made the crank call?" Dad asked bluntly.

"Yeah..."she shrugged.

"so...getting stoned is what it takes for you to meet women?" Dad deadpanned to me under his breath.

I rolled my eyes.

Antha told Dad how to get to her place, and then chatted about random stuff. Soon, we were there. She gave me her number and left the car.

"So...no one told you that the cookies were spiked?" Dad asked when we were on our way home.

"Nope..."I shook my head. The drive felt surreal, as I saw wavy lines, wavy lights, and cars that sniffed at each other.

"Are you hallucinating?" he asked me.

"No...!" I lied, not wanting to worry him any more than I had.

"You looked just like a friend of mine did when he dropped acid." Dad said. "Did your cousin eat the cookies too?"

"Yeah..."

"If your Aunt knew..." Dad shook his head while trailing off. "Besides getting stoned and meeting weird women, did you find anything useful?"

I told Dad about the developments, and we eventually arrived at the house. I was too riled up to sleep, so I settled on watching TV.

Charlie joined me.

"You want me to make you tea or something?" he asked. "How did it go?"

I told him, but politely refused the tea.

"That girl seemed to like Don" Dad remarked, while doing a crossword nearby.

"She's too young and not my type" I said.

Just then, the phone rang. Charlie answered it.

"It's your client, Mr. Fullerton" My brother said after a bit.

TBC


	9. Chapter 10

"Did you tell him that Donnie was here?" Dad asked Charlie.

"I told him to wait a moment."

Dad sighed "Don is in no condition to talk to him. Say that he just went back out, on a lead"

"Dad..." I felt bad about doing that to Fullerton, it was his daughter!

"You're going to make an ass of yourself in the state you're in!" Dad turned to me. "Look at you! You made me take that crazy woman home..."

"Dad! I couldn't leave her to drive or be alone in her state!" I protested.

"You've spent half an hour channel surfing..." Dad continued

"I'll uh...say that you stepped out on a lead..." Charlie lamely said and got the phone.

"Uh...thanks buddy..." I told him.

Eventually, they went to bed. I was still up, when Dad came down the stairs freshly shaven. While I was a little less high, sleepiness had yet to come and I started to feel the beginnings of a headache.

"You're still up?" he asked me.

"Yeah.." I shrugged, still on the couch.

"Maybe some breakfast might help?" he offered, as I saw the worry on his face. I must look like hell.

"I'm not hungry, Dad, but thanks" I told him. Just then, the doorbell rang. I went to seewho it was.

"It's me, Antha!" a familiar voice said to my surprise from the other side of the door. Hope must have given her our address. My cousin had gone on her own to the house, on a few anniversaries, birthdays, and when Mom died.

"Hey! what's up?" I said upon opening the door.

"Antha!" Dad put on his host face. "It's uh..good to see you again!"

"I thought I'd come see how Don was" she told us, wearing a skull tee shirt, and short, dark skirt.

"Thanks for coming by." I said, and then continued. "I'm okay, though I havent' gone to bed."

At that moment, Charlie came into the living room.

"Hey buddy!" I greeted him. " You remember, Antha, right?"

"Yeah...hi!" he tried to hide his look of surprise.

"Why don't we all go to breakfast? My treat?" she offered. "I called in sick today"

" Don and I was just uh...about to make some, actually" Dad said, in host mode, though I could tell it was reluctant. "Would you like to join us ?"

"Sure!"

"We'll be right back with french toast" Dad smiled, and made his way towards the kitchen, I followed with an inward groan, knowing that he wanted to talk to me about her.

Soon we were in the kitchen, and he started to get all the ingrediants for the batter.

"Cut the bread slices in half, would ya?" he requested and I did so. After a fewmoments of silence, he remarked "Antha seems unpredictable, kinda like your old job..the one you pretend not to miss..."

"Dad.." I began.

"No need to argue" he said, while putting the ingrediants in a bowl and mixing them. "I was just making an observation"

"Of course" I said wrly.

"Remember your cousin Peter's ex wife?" he asked.

I nodded my head with an annoyed groan; I knew where this was going.

"We both know why he married her! He needed exictment in his life as an accountant!"

"Dad, I'm not Peter!" I argued.

"But you are bored with your life! Face it! this runaway case aside, the work does not exite you!" Dad turned on the stove and put the pan on it.

"I'm only taking dull cases until my reputation in the private sector grows!" I reminded him.

"Go see if your guest wants anything" Dad suggested.

"Sure..." I went to the dining room, where Charlie and Antha were talking.

"Hey guys! I was wondering if you wanted something to drink?"

"Coffee would be great!" Antha said with a smile.

"My Dad's gonna make some soon" I promised her.

Charlie looked pensive, as I sat next to him.

he whispered with concern"She said that you imagined a dismembered head singing the lumberjack song. Is that true?"

"It was no big deal..." I assured him, not that I blamed him for worrying.

"If Morlock did put acid in the cookies, you could get hallucinations at any time" he reminded me.

"Morlock did not put acid on the cookies!" Antha interupted us. Charlie raised an eyebrow in doubt.

However, he wisly decided to change the subject."Now that you called in sick, do you have any plans?"

"I'm getting a birthday present for Brian, a friend of mine, who's in the group."

"Oh..." Charlie seemed to struggle to keep a neutral face. This was the break I was looking for!

"Any idea of what you're gonna get him?" I asked. "Maybe I could help?"

"That would be great! I'm stuck on that!" she beamed, with a part of me feeling guilty.

"Sounds likea plan!" I said. "We'll have breakfast, and then go shopping!"

She smiled, and I looked forward to giving my client some good news by tonight.

TBC


	10. Chapter 11

Suddenly, I remembered that I should be making the coffee! So I excused myself and did so. When we all finally got to drink it, Charlie made a face.

"It's a little strong" he remarked

" I like it strong, myself!" Antha commented and poured some sugar into her cup.

I tasted it myself, coughed, as did Dad. Thankfully, his delicious French toast more than made up for it.

"Where do you work?" Dad asked her.

"I'm a vet tech" she told him "Thanks for the breakfast. It's delicious." Antha happily took another bite.

"You're welcome." he said, still in host mode. Only he could make an art out of being a host.

She then turned to me. "Where should we go to get Brian's present?"

I could see Dad give me a look, but then he nodded; it seemed like he realized why I volunteered to go.

"What does Brian like?" I asked.

"All kinds of stuff.." she replied vaguely.

"Could you narrow it down a bit?" I requested.

"Let's get in my car!" she ordered suddenly

"But you don't seem to have any idea of where to go" I pointed out.

"But I do!" she insisted. "let's go!" That was quick. She is unpredictable. We finished our breakfasts and left. Her car was a small Japanese one that was at least a decade old.

"What are you getting him?" I asked.

"You'll see." she said mysteriously, while putting on a CD with tormenting music. "I wanna see your reaction, and get your opinion."

"uh... okay.." I agreed.

Soon, we arrived at an adult toy store, and went inside.

"I figured we could get him a gift certificate from here" she said.

"Is he seeing anyone?" Was this pervert taking advantage of poor Elizabeth? If he was, I was sure as hell gonna do something about it!

"Not that I know of" she said, but shrugged. "But he might meet someone."

I looked around. There were dildos of all shapes and sizes, flavored creams, erotic games, naughty signs, etc.

Soon, she bought the gift certificate

"Anything catch your fancy?" she smiled/

"Well. I uh...was just waiting for you" Some conversations just needed to be avoided. Just then, my cousin Hope came in. Oh God! how awkward! The idea of my cousin buying stuff here, made me cringe.

"Hey Don!" she said neutrally, but with surprise in her eyes, and added. "How's it going, Antha?"

"Great! We're were getting Brian a gift certificate" Antha explained.

"Actually, I was gonna have lunch with him pretty soon!" my cousin told us.

"Why don't we join you guys?" I offered, and joked. "I did help buy him a present, kinda..."

"Yeah...let's!" Antha seemed conflicted. I could see it in her eyes. Maybe she wanted to have lunch with me alone?

"you can follow me in your car." Hope said with a smile

"Aren't you gonna buy something here?" Antha asked. I personally didn't wanna know.

"Just uh...something quick." She picked out some toy, paid for it, and we were on our way to our cars.

"I'm going to stop at my house first, if you guys don't mind." she told us before getting into hers.

"Sure..." I nodded with a smile that hid my annoyance. Hope always had to make a delay. Once, I had to take her to her school prom during my freshman year, and we had to make two stops before getting to the thing. My uncle, of course indulged her.

Once we arrived at her place, she invited us inside the apartment, which was a little bigger than the one I had before my injury. There, I saw group pictures of Brian, and some even had Elizabeth!

"Who are they?" I showed one to Hope. "I don't remember seeing some of them last night."

"Well...that's Hannah" she began, pointing to Elizabeth, then went on to talk about the others.

"Are any of them joining us for lunch, by any chance?" I asked casually.

"Hannah might." Hope said.

"Oh..." This was getting better and better! However, I worried about my cousin letting something slip and felt concern about the kind of shape Elizabeth was in. While she seemed physically fine, her mental state could be about issue altogether. Sadly, I had seen all too often, the effects of exploitation and cult membership, in the former line ofwork.

"She and Brian went to San Diego together, on a trip." Antha added.

"oh...for pleasure?"

"They didn't say " Hope explained.

After some more chit chat, we all went to join Elizabeth and Brian for lunch.

TBC


	11. Chapter 12

Before I knew it, we arrived at a Vietnamese restaurant. Elizabeth aka Hannah, was there! She wore a red tube top, and jeans. Physically, she looked okay, though she was a little thin for my liking. Brian sat next to her.

Hope made the introductions. "Hannah...Brian..this is Don, my cousin. He's joining our little group."

"I met Morlock last night" I added.

"He's really something else, isn't he?" Brian asked.

"Yeah..." I remarked, wondering about Megan and Coop's progress with that suspect. Then, I asked Elizabeth/Hannah "Have you been with the group long?"

"Not really" she told me with a shrug, which looked casual

"Antha tells me that you guys went to San Diego" I continued, but this time turned my attention to Brian.

"yeah we were" he said simply. Were they hiding something? The fact that he hadn't told my alto ego, Gigi Mann, about the trip, only encouraged my gut feeling.

"Did you guys do anything exciting?" I asked.

""We visited the city and had a good time" Brian replied vaguely, sipping some water. Soon, a waitress came to ask if we wanted something to drink. We all ordered something, and she excused herself.

The gang and I had lunch, then Elizabeth suggested "Why don't we go to my place? Watch a movie or something?"

"Sounds like a cool idea!" Antha said.

Man! If only all my cases at the bureau had been this easy! I kinda wanted to ask Elizabeth more questions, but I didn't want to seem too interested in her, or what she did with Brian in San Diego.

After eating, we went in a caravan of cars to Elizabeth's place. The apartment was an aged blue color, with the name 'Mayfair Manor' in dank, dirty, letters on a fake wooden sighn. Who did she live there with? How did she help with the rent? Soon, we were all inside. It was messy, clothes were all over the floor, empty cheetos bags lay on the coffee table, with its circle shaped stains, and books were on the couch. The living room was about half the size of the one in my old apartment. The TV, with was mid-sized, had both a VHS and DVD player. I had made sure to memorize the address.

"Why don't we watch Clockwork Orange?" Elizabeth suggested.

Antha asked me "Have you seen it?"

"No.." I admitted. Dad told me that it was a good movie, and he had seen it with mom one Friday when they left me with my grandmother.

"It's a great movie!" she beamed. "Let's watch it! I'll make the popcorn!" She ran into the kitchen. Looks like she visited often.

"Where the bathroom?" I asked Antha in a whisper, figuring I could explore the apartment that way.

"At the end of that hallway" She pointed to it.

"Thanks!" I smiled, and went on my way. Discreetly, I looked into the bedroom and noticed two beds, both unmade. This place reminded me of my dorm room on a bad day. Then, I went into the bathroom, and opened various drawers. I saw feminine products, such as woman's razors, tampons, kotexes, lady's perfumes, various makeup supplies. Also, there were condoms, shaving cream, and men's razors. Enough for a guy who just spends the occasional night. I hoped that it was for the roommate's boyfriend, unless of course, the roommate was underage as well. I opened the medicine cabinet, and saw the tell tale circle pack of the birth control pills, as well as doxepin, a sleeping medicine. I decided to go into the bedroom to see what else I could find, but Antha knocked on the door! Damn it!

"What's taking you so long? It's not like you had the spiciest thing on the menu! Maybe you should eat more yogurt!"

"You're uh...right!" I said quickly. "Give me one more minute."

"Hurry! The popcorn is gonna get cold!" I heard her walk away, and with a sigh, Soon, I joined the others.

To my annoyance, Elizabeth's roomate never showed up during the movie.

For a while after it ended, we all talked, then, citing a tail, I excused myself, figuring that Antha could find a ride among the others.

I drove the car several blocks away, then returned to the apartment, digital camera in hand, hiding nearby. Little by little the gang left. Then, Elizabeth went out of her apartment, and took a walk and I took some pictures, while following her. When she returned to the apartment. I took a picture of the apartment building. Deciding that Mr. Fullerton deserved a progress report by now, I went home to write it, despite my exhaustion and hangover.

I bought coffee and wrotethereportat Dad's work. Then, I called Mr. Fullerton, and we set up a meeting right away at some casual diner

"What have you got?" he asked anxiously, and I filled him in, as well as showed him the pictures.

"Your missing something" the man gave me a mean look after I finished.. "My daughter."

"Look, Mr. Fullerton, like I said ,I haven't been able to get her aloneand..I haven't gained her trust."

"And what?" he interupted me. "Haven't you grabbed people?"

"Yes I have….but.."

"But nothing! Several of the security guys at my company are ex-military. You can get their help. Besides, she's a minor, her mother has passed away, and you've got my permission to kidnap her."

"It's not that. I'm concerned that if we grab her too soon, she run away to parts unknown, maybe even with the help of that cult." I told him. "I promise you, she's fine, and I'll see to it that it stays that way."

"Then, I'll rent a cabin in the mountains, where you'll take her, and I'll get a deprogrammer up there. You'll make sure she doesn't run away." He argued. I didn't blame his impatience, I'd probably feel the same way, but there was a method to handling these things, which caused many a civilian to become worried and impatient.

"I don't know much about that cult, or what it does to those who try to leave. We don't know the resources they've got..."

"Figure that out on your own time! I just care about my daughter.!" he began to raise his voice. "You can't expect me to just leave my baby girl with a bunch of nuts!"

"Mr. Fullerton, I understand that you are worried, but we need to exercise caution..." I told him gently.

"How about I exercise my right to fire your ass if I don't get my daughter back right away?"

TBC


	12. Chapter 13

I explained patiently, hoping that he'd understand."Your daughter's been brainwashed by an organization that I've infiltrated, Mr. Fullerton"

"'What part of 'I want my daughter back' don't you understand?" the man glared at me. I could sense the worry and impatience in his tightened fist, hunched shoulders, and the bags under his eyes.

"I've got the trust of two cult members, close to Elizabeth" I said.

"lot of good that's done you! My daughter isn't with me!" he snorted.

"If you want her back, you gotta give me more time." I told him firmly. "Many parents with missing kids would kill to be in your position!"

"Yeah...If I had my kid back!"

"We're very close to that!"

After some more arguing, and much effort on my part, I finally got three more days to get Elizabeth back. Not a lot, but better than nothing right?

With that, I went home, and started to make myself some coffee. Time was not on my side, and I needed to gather my thoughts. The house had become the place for me to do it, even before my injury.

"Hey Donnie!" Dad greeted me when he came into the kitchen. He frowned when he saw me measuring the coffee and water.

"I've got only three days to get Elizabeth back, before her father fires me!" I explained.

"Any luck?" he leaned on a counter.

"I saw her, when I had lunch with Antha and a few others." I told him.

"Antha left you a message, by the way." Dad said.

"Thanks!" I checked it. She just called to ask if I wanted to get together with her tomorrow.

What could I do? Sadly, I didn't have the resources of the F.B.I at my disposal. I'd have to wing it somehow. Megan , Coop and the others were busy with that fugitive, and I was just a plain old civilian.

"I'm sure you'll think of something" Dad said gently as he sat near me.

"The father just wanted to pull her out. He doesn't realize that's the worst thing we can do right now." I confided.

"You can't really blame him for being impatient" Dad remarked as he relaxed into the chair.

"I know" I sighed and laid my head on the back of my chair.

"I can really understand where's he's coming from" he added gently, in a whisper, and I knew that he referred to my fugitive recovery days. That talk at Cal Sci had really hit home how it had affected my father very deeply. "Not knowing...how she is, not being able to see her..."

"She's gonna come out of this cult, in one piece, and go home where she belongs" I promised.

At that moment, Charlie came in with a huge grin on his face, and an envelope. Quickly, he gave it to me, almost roughly. If he hadn't been so enthustiastic I would have been a bit annoyed.

"Aren't you gonna open it?" he asked in a tone that took me back to a time when we were kids and he'd give me weird presents.

"Sure..." I said. What was it? I mean, Charlie didn't look serious enough for this to be about his will,or giving me power of attorney. Did he put my name on the house deed? With my finger, I opened the envelope. Charlie's eyes were that of a dieting person eyeing someone else's sundae. It was a Lease!

"It didn't seem right you didn't have an office to do your work." he began, talking quickly. I was still in shock. "I figured you'd be statically more likely to get more challenging cases that were worthy of your experience and skill. The office is right in the business district."

I couldn't accept this! I wanted to make it on my own! I should have known that Charlie still felt the need to make amends. How could he have known that some nut would have possession of something that pierced through FBI issued goggles? Or that it had been a trap?

"Buddy, I really appreciate this..." I began gently

"Hear me out!" Charlie interrupted me. "Let's make a deal. I'll pay for the first twelve months of rent. If by that time you don't have enough clients to pay it yourself, I'll incur all the costs of getting out of the lease and you'll owe me nothing. In the more likely scenario that your firm grows and the rent can be made, you'll, at your own pace, repay me."

"Well..." My brother had thought this out. He knew how I would react to this. Suddenly though, I had an idea, that required the use of my new office. When this case settled, I'd decide what to do about it. "Why don't you take me to it, and maybe we can work on the runaway case? I've got a plan, now that I've seen Elizabeth."

Happy, Charlie began, while getting his coat and opening the front door, to babble about various mathematical theories that could get Elizabeth to see what he called the 'logical fallacy inherent in cults', and how she, statistically would be better off staying with her father and furthering her education.

"If you could explain that..." Charlie began at one point, and reached into his pocket for the car keys.

"Actually, it's not your math skills I need" I admitted once we got into his car and I winced because I accidentally sat on a a spiral bound notebook. There was no room for my feet, thanks to all the textbooks. The car was like a mobile library.

His eyes widened and he looked at me as if I had grown a third eye. "What?"

TBC


	13. Chapter 14

"let me explain" I began. "I'll need you to pretend to be..."

"Won't Hope recognize me?" Charlie interrupted, while stopping for a red light.

"Not if we play this right. Let me explain" I countered, and then challenged him. ". You wanna help me right, Buddy?"

"Of course, man!" my brother answered quickly.

"Using the office..."

"Which you're gonna keep?" he asked eagerly and hopefully.

"When Elizabeth's back home, we'll talk about the office." I told him, intending to find a way out of a lease.For now, we had work to do.

"That means no doesn't it?" he pouted.

"Let's focus on the work!" I told him firmly and with a frown, he made a left turn.

"What's the plan?" he sighed.

"You're gonna pretend to be a psychic"

"how the hell am I gonna do that?"

"Charlie I'll find out all I can and tell you everything before hand. You've got an excellent memory. You'll wear a disguise and change your voice a bit." This made sense. I knew a lot about my cousin of course, and I could learn alot by talking to the others, as well as using various databases. "Besides, they'll think I've used your pyshic abilities on cases."

"Could I channel a dead mathematician?" he asked, almost in a whine.

"No" I rolled my eyes and took out my favorite pair of sunglasses, and gave them to him.. I had another idea "You're gonna pretend to be blind."

"But I don't know how to use a cane!" he complained.

"I'll show you." I promised.

"How do you know how to use a cane?" he asked with surprise.

"I once went undercover as a blind person" I explained. "Took lessons even. Anyway, I'll arrange for them to see you tomorrow"

"How is this going to get Elizabeth out of the cult?"

"You'll see" I promised.

Soon, we arrived at the office. It was in one of the more impressive buildings in the downtown area. A security guard asked for our IDs. The lobby was impressive, with expensive looking flooring, revolving doors, and a large painting near a clock that had gold numbers.

"Your office is on the fourteenth floor" he said as we went into the elevator, which was roomy, had tiles that looked like marbles, and large mirrors on three of its sides. "So….uh...how do psychics decorate their offices?"

"I dunno" I shrugged. We walked through a long hallway, and finally, we arrived. Charlie took the key out from his pocket, and opened the door. The carpeting looked new, as did the desk and chair.

"Actually that's for the receptionist. Your area is over here." he lead me to another door. I couldn't believe it! The chair was large and made from leather! Too boot, the desk seemed to be made from cherrywood.

"You didn't need to get me fancy furniture, buddy" I said.

"It uh...came with the space" He quickly claimed. Somehow I doubted it. My brother, in a flash changed the subject "You could hire a student part time for a reasonable wage"

Then, I noticed the view! It was great, and allowed us to see a nice cityscape.

"I don't know how to thank you, Charlie" I said lamely, while we looked out the window.

"Say you'll accept the deal?" he suggested.

"We don't have much time."

"I also got you a laptop" he said. "but I left it at the office."

" Keep this area closed to them. Say its a closet or something" I brainstormed, thinking they might be suspicious of a psychic with expensive furniture. "Let's take another look at the receptionist area." We went back there. "We'll need to put folders on this desk, to make it look worked in."

"And an ouiji board"

"Charlie! Come on!" I sighed, and called Hope on my cell, telling her about my psychic friend and what fun it would be if the gang were to meet him?

"Has he helped you with cases?" she asked at one point, enthusiastic about the idea.

"More times than even Charlie could count. By the way, uh...why don't we all get together for drinks and I can talk about my plan then?" This way, I could get the info I needed.

"Antha and I will call the others" She volunteered.

"Thanks!" I suggested a time and place, and she agreed. With that I hung up.

"Let's go home." I said. "I'm meeting them for drinks. While I get the information, you'll read my stuff on Brian and Elizabeth.

"Okay..."

"Here's my info, so you can access the databases" I wrote it on a piece of paper on the desk As an PI , I could access certain kinds of information" so you can access the databases. "I'll give you their license plate numbers as soon as I can."

"I'll also see what the FBI's got"

"Sure" I replied. Charlie had top clearance and could access anything he wanted

--------------------------------------------

I made a point to choose a bar with a small parking lot, and to arrive first, to see who's car was whose, and write down the number when the got into the restaurant. When I had gotten all of them, I told them to Charlie and went in.

"You're late!" Antha teased, while sipping a Sangria.

"I had to help my dad with something" I said.

As the evening progressed, I deftly learned little tidbits here and there, asked some discreet questions, and talked about my 'psychic friend'. Eventually, I went home, when I had enough information. Charlie sat on the couch, with the sunglasses on.

"What's this about you having Charlie pretend to be a psychic?" Dad asked when I got in.

"I sense lots of alcohol" my brother said drolly when he saw me. The couch was filled with stuff.

"He's been practicing since you left." Dad explained.

Charlie took off the sunglasses "I got lots of information"

"Great!"

At my insistence, Charlie and I practiced, with me pretending to be the various people. We worked out signals that I would use if he started to go off base, and when he was on the right track. We then slept for a few hours, and got up early to go decorate the office.

"I've got extra supplies at my office." Charlie said as we both ate cereal. After breakfast, we went to go get them at Cal Sci "We need a phone" He just grabbed the one from at his office desk.

"Charlie!" I scolded him.

"All the agencies and organizations I consult for call me at my cell" Charlie said. "And most of my students ask for help via email or in person."

"Okay..."

Soon, we returned to my temporary office, after getting a red tipped cane and set to make it looked used. It was great working with Charlie again. I hadn't realized how much I missed it, until now. After we finished, I gave Charlie some lessons.

"You mostly need to worry about getting from the door to 'your desk' " I pointed out after a while.

"I need a wig!" he remembered. "Let me go buy it"

"Fine. Just Hurry!" I said. They were coming in a few hours. When he returned, we practiced everything again, and role played some worse case scenarios. Afterwards, we got Chinese delivery.

Eventually, Antha and two others came in. It was show time!

TBC


	14. Chapter 15

"Hey guys!" I greeted them. Charlie had put on his disguise, which consisted of my sunglasses, a brown wig, and dad's golfing hat, a few minutes before. "Where's Elizabeth and Hope?"

"They'll be coming soon" she promised me and turned to Charlie. "You must be Rick."

"That's me..." Charlie replied in a hoarse, deep voice. Then he said. "I'm getting impressions of New York?"

"I lived there until I was five!" one of Antha's companions, Harry, told us.

"Do you work with the DA?" Antha asked. She wore white paint on her face, with black lipstick, her shirt was black, with a nasty looking skeleton on it.

"Yeah...I help out with Jury selection" my brother said, deftly holding his cane the way a blind person would. He had picked up that skill pretty quickly.

"He mostly works with law enforcement." I added.

Just then, Hope and Elizabeth came in and everyone said their hellos.

"I'm sensing a...forgotten diary.." Charlie said suddenly to my annoyance. He was supposed to mention it later.

"That would be me!" Elizabeth said.

"You left it in a closet?"

"yeah!"

"Can you talk to the dead?" the teenager asked.

"I mostly get snapshots or impressions, no direct dead person chit chat I'm afraid." Charlie explained with a smile. I had anticipated this question, and knew that since Charlie couldn't read people very well, we'd better stick to 'impressions'.

Soon, we were all seated in a circle on the floor.

Antha piped up."Do you get dreams?"

"Sometimes"

"He dreamed about my eye injury before it happened!" I told them somberly, laying some groundwork.

"I didn't get all the details, unfortunately" Charlie told them. "All I saw was Don at the hospital, wearing an eye patch..." He stopped there, as if the memory still affected him.

"You can't control what you see and don't see" I said with true brotherly affection.

"Can you see auras?" Antha asked.

"Auras?" Charlie repeated, and gave me a discreet look.

"What's mine look like?" Trixie, another cult member piped up.

"I don't see auras as much as I sense them." Charlie began. "Here's how it works, I focus on the person, and in my mind I see a color"

"Do mine!" Antha requested and came closer to Charlie. "I'm Antha, by the way."

"Uh….sure..." He , rubbed his temples with his index fingers, and said "Your aura is rose colored"

"Is that...good?"

"I sense that it is..." Charlie smiled.

He did the same thing for everyone, but me, as I told them at the end that my aura was green. Whatever the hell that meant.

The evening progressed, with Charlie being able to 'know' lots of things about everyone.

"Were you born with your abilities?" Trixie asked.

"In college, I was hit hard with a baseball hat by a mugger, causing brain damage and blindness . That was around the time I discovered my abilities." he repeated the story I told him to say.

"Who wants pizza?" I offered, after a while. By then, Charlie had really impressed everyone even more as he chatted with the group. He had adjusted to this role excellently.

Everyone called out in agreement, and I called in a delivery. As everyone talked among themselves, I took Charlie aside.

"Great job buddy! You've helped set the stage for stage two" I patted him on the back.

"What's stage two?" Charlie's asked in a puzzled voice.

"You're gonna visit Elizabeth very early in the morning. telling her you had a dream."

TBC


	15. Chapter 16

"A dream?" Charlie repeated with doubt. He seemed worried about his ability to convince her, as he felt more comfortable arguing things using numbers..

"You already did most of the work" I assured him.

"So you want me to tell her that Morlock is evil?"

"Something a little more subtle, actually" I corrected him gently. "You will knock on her door, roughly, and in a panic. When she answers, you're gonna to say that you had a dream so horrible that you took a cab to warn her in person..."

"Is that your plan?" Charlie gave me a 'What the hell'? look.

"Why else did you think I had you put on that show?" I asked him with a sigh.

"I dunno." Charlie shrugged sheepishly.

"Anyway..." I continued before he could protest more. "You're going to tell her that she is in danger, and needs to hide in the garage of the house"

"Dad's not gonna like having a guest be in the garage..."

"He'll understand once I explain things to him." I said. "As I was saying, you'll mention that I can be trusted and will help her out. Once she's in there, you, as Charlie, and Dad will pretend that you're unaware of her existence. With her at the house, the girl's father will give me more time to figure out a way to keep her out of the cult."

"What will be the specifics of the dream?"

"You see her...in a body bag, being zipped up." I reluctantly said.

"That's a horrible thing to say to a young girl!" my brother protested.

"It's better than having her stay with that cult, right?" I pointed out. "Besides, you ' can't control these things' "

"Pizza's here!" Antha yelled just then.

"I'll be right there!" I promised. Soon, I, with an inward grunt, paid for the two pizzas, and the large bottle of coke. Thankfully, they came with paper plates and foam cups.

After a long while, the gathering dissipated; I went home , with Charlie, to explain things to Dad, and prepare for stage two. He didn't like the idea.

" Body bag? Is scaring her to death really necessary?" Dad asked with a disapproving frown. "Couldn't Charlie's dream tell her to trust me?"

"Dad..." I began

"All your training and experience and this are the best idea you've got?" Dad demanded. "Yanking her out is staring to sound attractive."

"Come on!" I groaned.

"Couldn't I say that a dead mathematician came to me and..." Charlie began. There he goes again!

"You don't speak to the dead, remember?" I shook my head in exasperation. "You just get 'snapshots' and 'impressions' "

"Oh...right" Charlie remembered sheepishly.

"Okay, let's practice. Go out, knock on the door" I commanded firmly. "And pretend I'm Elizabeth"

With reluctance and a whimper, Charlie did just that. Soon, Dad and I heard a knock.

"Rick?" I asked, while opening the door and pretending to be Elizabeth. "What are you doing here?"

"I had this horrible dream!" Charlie said in a lame monotone, like a terrible soap opera actor, who relies on the teleprompter.

"Come on Charlie! You can do better than that!" I scolded him. "You did well before! Try it again. Pretend I'm the one you had the horrible dream about and act the same way."

"Don!" Charlie glared at me, as did Dad.

"Let's try this again" I ordered.

Sulking, Charlie did just that. Take two wasn't any better.

" A dead mathematician is sending me signals...I.. see a board full of...equations...having to do with you!"

"Charlie...please don't do this..." I groaned and admonished. "No dead mathematicians, okay?"

"Talking about math will give me a greater chance of success."

"Trust me...it won't in this case.." I reminded him. "You gotta stick to your story, buddy."

"Why don't you come with me?" Charlie asked suddenly.

"Because, you will go in a cab to her place, and then come here with her in it" I explained. "Dad will be 'on a business trip'. I'll be half asleep when you pound on the door, and very shocked when you tell me about the dream. I might have a doubt or two when you suggest that she stay in the garage, but you'll convince me like you always do."

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" Dad asked with a deadpan. "The girl's father's not going to like her being in the garage."

"I'll worry about that when she's here at the house" I told him, then turned to Charlie "Let me show you how to do this" I realized that maybe demonstrating it might help my brother. While I was no Oscar winner, my undercover experience had shown me how to pretend. So, I got the wig and cane.

"Could you have bought a more ridiculous wig?" Dad asked my brother.

Charlie shrugged and waited for me to begin.

I knocked on the wall, and Charlie asked, with a sigh, while pretending to open a door "Rick? Why are you here?"

"I just had to come...I couldn't phone...not with this kind of news!" I began, trying to sound like I was in a panic.

"What news?"

"It's a dream, I had about you!" Using the cane, I went to the couch, sat down and put my face in my hands. "How can I even say! You're so young!

"Tell me!"

"I saw you... being zipped up.. " I paused and took a dramatic deep breath, then said in a whisper "in a body bag"

"Are you sure...?" Charlie pretended to be shocked. Dad watched us with curiosity.

"I'm afraid so" I shook my head, then I put my hand on my left cheek, stared into space, made my body spasm, and said "There's hope!"

Maybe a 'spontaneous vision' could help Charlie. So far, though, Dad wasn't impressed, just entertained. I could tell that he was trying not to laugh by the choking sounds and how he covered his mouth.

"Really?" Charlie chuckled despite himself. "What hope?"

"Don! He's your hope! In the vision I just had, there was snapshot of him warning and protecting you. We have to go to his place! ."

"You want me to pretend to have a vision right in front of her?" Charlie interrupted.

"Yeah..."

"Kraft never did all that..." my brother pointed out. "When he had his 'visions' "

"It'll be more effective if you're more dramatic about having one" I told him and avoided arguments about the validity of Kraft's abilities. It was not a good time to go there.

"Dramatic by whose standards?" Dad asked with a guffaw.

"I don't...know...making it over the top might actually decrease my chances of success" My brother frowned.

If only Elizabeth were a math bluff!

TBC


	16. Chapter 17

"What are you saying?" I asked with annoyance. "Don't you realize that this is a person who believes in auras, magic, and crap like that? Did I mention that she's a teenager under the influence of a manipulative cult leader? " Couldn't he see the necessity of this plan?

"I uh...don't see Rick having those kinda visions" he lied badly, trying to sound like some veteran actor. Talk about a lame excuse!

"Rick is my creation, Charlie!" I reminded him. It was true. Who came up with the character? Who decided his background and abilities? Me!

"Which I made a reality!" he countered awkwardly. "My interpretation of him makes me know him more than you"

"Now I know what the Cohen brothers' parents feel like" Dad remarked drolly, but decided to play peacemaker. "Okay boys, That's it. let's step back for a minute. 'Rick' belongs to the both of you."

"Listen! I've done a little more undercover work than you" I said firmly to my brother. "This is the way we gotta play it."

"Don..."

"Let's practice!" I cut him off. "Do it the way I just showed you" I didn't wanna act this way towards him, but there was a young girl to think about.

He sulked at me.

"Look, Buddy, you gotta trust me on this!" I quickly and with some effort put on a gentler tone. This wasn't gonna work if he did his part half heartedly. "This is the push Elizabeth needs to get out of that environment. Believe me!"

"I don't know..." he repeated.

"How many times did I trust your theories without really understanding them?" I asked.

"Quite a few" he admitted.

"How about returning the favor?" I asked in a teasing voice and with a smile.

"Okay..." Charlie finally agreed.

Finally, we practiced, practiced, and practiced. Charlie eventually did it well enough, but not to the point of looking like a ham. Dad, after some complaining went to crash at the house of a friend.

"Here buddy" I began after sorting bills by denomination, and paper clipping the various ones. After all Rick was blind. Charlie graded papers. "This should be enough for the cab." I had taken out money before going to the bar.

"I got it, man!" he shook his head.

"I'm getting reimbursed anyway" I insisted. It was true. Besides, I didn't want him, on top of everything to pay for my case related expenses. "And they're already fixed"

"Don't worry about it" he wouldn't take the money.

After some more arguing, he accepted the money. However, it was on the on the condition that I allow a month before doing anything about the office.

He fell asleep on the couch, while I went to bed late. Around three, the alarm rang, and gingerly I got up. After putting cold water on my face, I went to the living room to wake up Charlie. I could barely keep from yelping as I stepped on a pen.

"It's time buddy!"

Charlie got up with a moan, showered as I made coffee for us, and dressed in his costume. Then, I called the cab. After a while, we heard a 'beep beep!'

"That's my cue!" he said nervously.

"I've got faith in you buddy!" I encouraged him. With a weak smile, he got the cane, and left.

TBC


	17. Chapter 18

Waited. That's what I mostly did for the next several hours. I made sure to keep the lights off, to give the impression of a house, where everyone was sleeping. Finally, after what seemed like a long time I heard the doorbell. Quickly, I messed up my hair and ruffled the pjs I had put on a while before. I, by sheer will, let it ring for a while. Sleeping people tend not to open the door right away. I should know, as I used to be the one to ring their doorbell with bad news. That's one of the few things about the job that I didn't miss.

Then, I finally allowed myself to open it.

"Rick?Huh?" I asked in my best groggy voice as I put on my 'why the hell did you wake me?' face.

Opening the door showed me that things didn't go as planned. While Elizabeth was with Charlie aka Rick, so was Antha, and Trixie, with bags.

"They're in danger, Don!" Charlie told me in the panicky voice he had used during rehearsal.

"Danger?Wha...?" I went with the flow. Looks like they were there with Elizabeth, and Charlie improvised. Things had gotten complicated.

"I saw them all..Don...being zipped up in body bags! Side by side!" he tapped the ground with his cane

"The timing of Rick's warning gave us cause for concern" Antha said.

"Oh.." I made a point of rubbing my eyes. "How?"

"We have reason to believe that evil forces are about, and that we needed to be careful." Antha told me. Her dyed black hair was in pigtails.

"I definitely sensed them in my dream!" Charlie remarked.

"What can I do? I'm no longer an FBI agent" I said with a tone of chagrin.

"Rick had another vision that involved you protecting us" Antha said. "So we came here."

"...we get vibes of strength from you" Trixie said. "And it made sense. You're an ex FBI agent. That fact that you joined us a short time before this happened, in this light, could not be a coincidence."

"Thanks for ..the uh….faith...but uh...they don't really teach you much about 'evil forces' at Quantico" I told them, wanting to act the skeptic.

Charlie or uh..Rick and I argued for bit, and then he asked me to have faith in him. With some 'reluctance' I agreed and let them in.

"My Dad's away on a business trip, and my brother's at his office pulling an all nighter." I told them as they made themselves at home.

"This is a very nice house!" Trixie remarked. "I can see why you haven't gotten your own place"

"Anyway...uh...so did your dreams suggest a hiding place?" I asked.

"Rick suggested that this would be the last place they would look. He got a sense of that." Antha explained.

Trixie took out some cookies and offered them to us "Want some?"

"Cookies..uh..interfere with my visions" Charlie politly refused.

"I won't be of much help if I'm high" I told them.

"This place needs a protective spell" Antha observaed

"Protective spell?" Charlie repeated with doubt.

"Sure..go ahead..." Like my brother and father said, we were scaring them. Besides, I'm supposed to have an interest in this stuff. "I'll help you."

"Don't you believe in spells?" Antha asked Charlie.

"My experiance in magic is rather passive..." he said quickly.

Soon, they took out some herbs from a bag, not to mention Dad's various pots and pans. I could see Charlie frowning. Seems like most mathematicians didn't like having their houses spelled.

"I hope we don't have to eat anything" my brother whispered in my ear as I boiled some foul smelling plant in a pot filled with water. After it was done, I was told to chop it up.

After much prep involving plants, herbs, blood from a pricked finger, the three woman started to set things up in the living room by lighting candles, moving around the furniture, putting a large poster of some strange geometrical shape on the floor, and other weird things. Charlie, of course, had to study it .

"You're supposed to be a blind psychic" I reminded him by whispering in his ear.

"Oh….sorry" he whispered back with chagrin, but did it again a few seconds later.

"You can sense it's power can't you?" Antha asked Charlie. Guess she saw him.

"He sure can!" I said when my brother didn't answer. "It seems to have a hold on him"

Charlie was probably making all kinds of calculations in his head, good thing I had an out. I got his attention again, and reminded him to stay in character. Soon, we noticed that they were putting candles around the geometrical shape.

"If there's an earthquake right now..." he began with worry.

"Don't worry buddy" I assured him, but he was right. There were too many candles.

"We need one more thing" Elizabeth said.

"What?" I asked.

the young woman told us seriously "A live animal to sacrifice, perferably a goat."

TBC


	18. Chapter 19

"What?" Charlie demanded loudly.

"Rick and I don't believe in animal sacrifice" I said in my diplomatic voice. It wasn't the most humane way for an animal to die.

"Don't get squeamish on us" Antha said.

"Squeamish? I was an FBI agent, and Rick goes to crime scenes all the time" I scoffed. "Squeamish…..yeah..."

"doing this will blacken our auras!" Charlie told them suddenly.

"Really? I've never heard that" Antha remarked.

"Rick was referring to the interior of the aura.." I 'explained' to them to cover up for my brother. Then, I gave him a cue "Didn't your mentor once talk about the inside of auras?"

"Oh yes.. he talked about them extensively" Charlie picked up on the hint.

"Morlock's never mentioned anything about that" Trixie told him.

"Few people are familiar with the concept." Charlie explicated to her.

"Oh..."

"Aren't there any alternatives?" I asked.

"No there aren't. Sacrifices are a very necessary part of this!" Elizabeth said to my concern. It worried me to see how brainwashed she was.

"Well.." Antha began, but stopped.

"There is an alternative?" I asked hopefully and with my best smile.

"It would involve us cutting our arms and letting blood." Antha said reluctantly. I could feel Charlie's chagrin and dread as I saw the look on his very expressive face. I wasn't looking forward to it either.

"But that would decrease the potency and efficiency of the protection spell." Trixie argued. "Remember what Morlock said?"

"What if we just put a spell on the garage?" I asked, finally having an idea. "That way we don't have to sacrifice animals or cut ourselves up.My brother is bound to come home sometime anyway, and it'll be safer for him not to know that you guys are here, at the house."

"Don is very overprotective of his brother" Charlie said.

"I'm not overprotective" I argued. "I like to make sure that he's safe"

"Charlie might disagree" my brother persisted.

"A smaller area would require less blood" Antha conceded.

"We'd have to redo the prep work though" Trixie added.

"Rick and I will help you!" I offered. After some more effort on my part, they finally agreed to limit their spell to the garage. A part of me felt that maybe I should have suggested that in the first place when they said they wanted to do a spell. Hindsight's always twenty, twenty, right?

The prep work was redone, and the house was cleaned up. Charlie had hidden all of his cognitive theory work beforehand.

Then, I gave them all the stuff, Dad had instructed me to give. Such as a rollaway, some blankets, pillows, directions to the nearby YMCA, and other things.

"Thank you for everything" Antha said with a smile.

"No problem."

After they did the spell, which sounded like gibberish to me, my brother and I left them to get comfortable.

At the house, he asked me. "How are we going to get Elizabeth to go home, with those two staying with her?"

Before I could answer, the phone rang.

TBC


	19. Chapter 20

Thinking that it might be Fullerton, I gathered my thoughts before answering the phone, as it was on my line.

"Eppes Investigations" I answered, really needing to get the man to give me more time.

"I think my boyfriend is a vamp" an annoyingly whiny voice complained. I was bothered and relieved at the same time. Wasn't it a little early to be crank calling?

"Call Buffy" I retorted. "She's listed under 'B' in the yellow pages. With that I hung up.

"Who was that? Charlie asked.

"Some smartass.." I said dismissively. "Anyway, first off, I gotta talk the girl's father into giving me more time."

"Then?"

"I'll play it by ear."

"Oh….." my brother said awkwardly . "Anything else I could do?"

"Not for now, buddy." I told him. "Thanks!"

Charlie went to crash as Larry's place, and I slept for a bit. Around eight, I called Mr. Fullerton, carefully saying that I got Elizabeth to go into a safe house, 'but under false pretenses', and that I'd need more time to find a way get her out of the cult permanently.

"Why don't I send the deprogrammer to the safe house? he suggested happily. Where is it?"

"We're not quite at that stage, Mr. Fullerton" I said gently.

"What do you mean?"

"While the plan to extracate her from the cult was successful, there were some complications."

"oh my god! She's pregnant!" he said in a panic.

"She's not pregnant, I assure you!" I comforted him.

"Then what?"

I told him about what Charlie did, though I referred to my brother as 'a friend of mine who is an experienced actor', and how Elizabeth got company at the 'safe house'. I figured that telling him that I had my mathematician brother, not an actor, pretend to be a psychic wouldn't be a good idea; as it was, I seemed to be on thin ice with the man.

"Why didn't your friend send those other girls elsewhere?" he demanded. That was a legitimate question. Maybe Charlie was afraid of veering from the script?

"With them there with her and believing to be in danger, she's less likely to blow my friend and me off as time passes." I lied for Charlie and the girl's sake.

"Okay….fair enough... What do you suggest?"

"I need more time to evaluate Elizabeth's state of mind, and how much influence the cult has on her" I told him. He disagreed, but after some back and forth, the man relented.

"Well, you've gone farther than most PIs would have" he admitted and then said. "You've got three more days, but I want a picture!"

"Sure! I'll email it." I agreed.

We said our goodbyes, and hung up. Then, I got my digital camera, which Charlie bought after I announced my plans to become a PI, claiming it was an early birthday present. Carefully, I snuck into the garage. My training and experience kept me from being seen. I discreetly took a few photos, and emailed them on Charlie's laptop.

Then, I thought about how to get that girl out of the cult. She, and the others needed to see Morlock for what he really was. How though? After a while, I went to check in on them again.

What I saw was one of the most shocking scenes of my life!

TBC


	20. Chapter 21

I wasn't so much shocked, as saddened. Despite my years on the Bureau, the sight of people pouring all of their energies and destroying themselves on a con artist saddened me. There they were, using a steak knife to draw some weird symbol on their palm, going barefoot, burning themselves with matches, eating what appeared to be plants from the back yard, all while reciting some crap. They were in a circle.

With a sigh, I left them to their devices, and pushed myself to find a solution. Sometime passed and I got a text message from Charlie

_"Make sure they don't sacrifice the koi!"_ He loved those fish, giving them the kind of care a parent would a child. They had been an impulse purchase, a few years back.  
.

_"sure..."_ I replied in text, not that fish were a popular item for sacrificing..

_"Any luck?"_ he asked.

_"Not really. Why are you texting me?"_

_"I'm sitting in one of Larry's classes"_ he replied.

_"I see.."_

_"Class ended...gotta go meet with him."_

_"Okay buddy..."_

I warmed up some of the casserole Dad had prepped just for them, and took it to the garage.

"Hey guys!" I made myself sound cheerful. They were all wrapping their hands in long bandages.

"Smells good!" Antha remarked..

"My Dad made extra food, before he left ,for my brother and me" I explained.

They ate, though I worried, when Elizabeth picked at her food and only took a few token mouthfuls.

"Would you like something else?" I asked with concern. As it was, she seemed thinner than the photo Mr. Fullerton had shown me. "I can buy it for you"

"It's okay" she said.

I had wanted to stop the earlier self mutilation but I realized that my efforts were better spent looking for a permanent exit for Elizabeth from the cult.

Soon, we were talking about various topics, with most of them being out there.

"Elves are everywhere!" Elizabeth said. "But they hide among us as humans." Well, that would explain a lot of things about Larry if that were true.

"Do they originate from Earth?" I asked, playing along.

"No…from the hereafter, but they've lived on this planet for a long time" Antha told me.

"I see.." I nodded and gave my 'ah..' face.

"I think my neighbor is an elf!" the teenager piped up.

"Maybe Don can investigate for you" Trixie suggested.

"I uh..didn't learn much about Elves at Quantico" I said, feigning disappointment. This wasn't a mission that I wanted to do.

A while and a lecture about Elves, later. Charlie called me on my cell. Claiming it was a client, I took it outside.

"Don! Why doesn't Larry, as Rick's mentor, channel a dead physicist?" he suggested excitedly as I sighed in aggravation.

"They're not gonna listen to a lecture on physics!" I argued.

"Larry says that he used physics to get a student to stop believing in dragons and fairies"

Suddenly, I finally had an idea!

TBC


	21. Chapter 22

"I gotta go buddy!" I told my brother.

"You've got an idea?" He asked hopefully.

"Let's talk about it later.Don't come to the house until I give the go ahead. "

"Okay" We said our goodbyes and hung up

Before I could implement my plan, however, my business line rang, and I answered

"Eppes Investigations"

" Some evil mice took my best friend's brain!" Some dumbass complained in a nasal voice. What's with all these crank calls?Was Charlie putting ads somewhere he wasn't telling me about? "I need you to find them."

"Looks like they got yours too" I retorted and hung up.

Soon, I began the first phase of my plan by calling Dad on his cell.

"Hello?"

"Dad! It's me."

"Donnie! Your brother told me that his performance was a sucess?" Dad sounded cheerful."How's the girl?"

"Fine...though she could gain some weight" I admitted, not surprised that Charlie would tell him the good news." Anyway, Could you crash with a friend for a few days longer?"

"The father give you an extension?"

"Yeah.."

"Of course, Donnie." Dad and Charlie had been my greatest sources of support when it came to my new occupation. "What are you going to do now?"

"Get Elizabeth back home" I promised.

"Good luck Donnie."

"Thanks Dad!" With that, we hung up.

Next came phase two, which was as easy as going into the garage and telling the girls that my brother and father, due to unforeseen circumstances, weren't gonna return to the house for quite a while and so why don't they come and stay in it?

"We'd love to!" Antha said.

Quickly, they happily got their things and moved them into the various rooms. Thankfully, Elizabeth choose Charlie's room. Things couldn't be working better!

I allowed them to 'teach' and 'show' me stuff thoughout the evening. We also watched television and ate leftovers. I went to bed first, or at least pretended to. It was torture waiting for them to finally go to bed in the wee hours. They must have had more of the cookies, which could prove to be helpful.

Finally, around five, I snuck into Charlie's room, where Elizabeth stayed. Gingerly, I hid under a blanket in the closet. Then, called Elizabeth's name, loud enough for Elizabeth to hear, but low enough to avoid waking Antha and Trixie. The voice I used was also a bit dismembered.

If only the folks at the office could see me now,doing a reformed version of an old practical joke, that I used to do during my college days, to save a girl from a cult! It's amazing what you have to come up with, when you don't have a badge and the authority that comes with it!

She didn't budge. Sighing, I repeated myself "Eliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizaaaaaaaaabeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttthhhhhhhhh"

"Uh..?"

"Youuuuuuuuu muussssssssssstttttttt hiiiiiiiiiiiideeeeeeeeee alone!"

"What? she suddenly sat up.

"Iiiiiiiiiiii'mmmmmmm waaaaaaaaaarning youuuuuuuuuuu!"

"What the..."

"Yooouuuuu areeeee endangeeeeeeeeering your fireeeeeeends..." My body protested at being cramped in the closet full of junk.

"Who are you?"

"AAAAAAAAA reeeeeeeeeeforrrrrmed deeeeeeemon." Morlock had mentioned 'reformed demons' during his stupid talk.

"How do I know you're really a reformed demon, instead of an evil one?"

"IIIIIII wouldn't warn you IIIIIIIIIIffffffffff I were evil, now would I? You must tell Don to hide you separatly from the ooooooooootheeeeeeeeers!"

"Well...how can I be sure it is safer?"

Something told me that it was going to be a long night.

TBC


	22. Chapter 23

It took me a while, but I finally convinced her of the need to hide alone and to talk to me(as myself) in the morning.

When I was sure she was asleep, I snuck back into my room. Antha and Trixie stayed in my Dad's room.

Around nine, Antha woke me, and we all had breakfast.

After we ate, Trixie and Antha watched TV, while Elizabeth took me aside, and told me about last night's events.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" I asked with fake doubt.

"Yeah!"

" I don't know..." I said in my best hesitating voice.

After a while, I 'let' her 'convince me. She quickly went to explain things to Antha and Trixie ,while I decided to make the arrangements.

Discreetly, I went outside to call her father and told him of the new developments. Needless to say, he was very happy.

"Where would you like me to take her?"

"I gotta call the deprogrammer, and see what he says." he told me. "What is your cell number?"

I gave it to him. and we hung up.

Elizabeth joined me outside.

"I told them about what happened and that I had to hide somewhere with your help." she said.

"Uh...start packing, and I'll make the arrangements"

"Okay..." she left.

It bothered me how gullible, and willing to believe in this crap she was. Those bastards Morlock and Bryan were taking advantage of her! What if I had been a pervert? I'd have a field day!

A while later, her dad called me back, and told me where to go. I wrote down the directions, and his cell number.

That night, Elizabeth and I left in my SUV. She had packed a few things and looked nervous. Poor girl! Between 'Rick's ' visions, and the 'reformed demon' she'd really gotten quite a few scares. However, this was a better alternative than staying at that cult! Thankfully, during our rehearsals, I had told Charlie to have them leave a note. This way, for now, I didn't have to worry about the Bryan and Morlock looking for her.

I let her choose the radio station. The music gave me a headache!

"Why do you have so many mirrors?" she asked.

"I've only got one real eye" I explained. "So I've got more blind spots. Mirrors help fix that"

"Oh..."

After a while, I stopped at a gas station with an AM/PM, giving her thirty bucks.

"Go get yourself some snacks." I told her. Guilt and worry had encouraged me to give her the money.

She got some stuff, while I pumped gas.

The drive was long, and we had to go up a mountain. Finally, we arrived in this little cabin that was isolated. Great! No nosy neighbors!

With her help, I got everything, and we took it all inside. The place was dusty, had no furniture, and several spider webs. With an old broom, that had flattened bristles, I got ride of the spider webs. Elizabeth mostly walked around, and unpacked her stuff.

"Sorry it's not much" I told her lamely.

"As long as I'm safe." she smiled. "Are you gonna stay too?"

"Yeah" I lied, as I planned to leave as soon and her father and the deprogrammer came.

A while later, I heard them approaching. When they came in, I held Elizabeth by the arms. The deprogrammer, who had a buzz cut, crossed his arms and watched the scene.

"Dad????" She angrily turned to me. "What the hell is going on???" The girl struggled, but she was no match for someone who used to restrain grown men bigger than him.

"There was no reformed demon" I told her finally, as her dad gave me a 'what the hell' look.

"Rick isn't a real psychic" her dad said seriously, though I could tell he was worried sick by the look in his eyes. The girl had scars on her arms, and looked very skinny. "He's an actor. Don got information on everyone before hand and gave it to him."

"Dad hired you! You didn't really care! Son of a bitch!!" she began to scream and struggle against my grasp. "Does Hope know this??"

"No...she didn't" I said simply and added. " I do care. That's why I did this."

"I'll take it from here" the deprogrammer said, and within seconds, Elizabeth was in his grip. "I'll need to work with her alone."

Reluctantly, the dad and I left.

"You checked him out, right?" I asked.

"A niece was treated by him." he said. " I don't know how to thank you enough!! Not only did you get her out, but you gave us extra time before they'd go looking for her!"

"I'm just glad to be able to help" I assured him.

We talked some more, and he promised to keep me apprised of Elizabeth's progress.

"Before I forget, here's the rest of the fee" He handed me a check. "I put in a little extra, but what you did has no price!!"

"Thank you" I said simply.

"It was wonderful to see her again!" he said. "Even for just a little bit. She needs to put on some weight, though"

"She sure does" I agreed.

After some more chatting, we went our separate ways. While I was happy about a job well done, I knew that I still needed to deal with Antha and Trixie. Then, I had an idea!

TBC


	23. Chapter 24

I called Charlie.

"How's it going man?" he asked.

"Elizabeth is with a deprogrammer" I said.

"That's great!" He was happy.

"Buddy, could you reprise your role of Rick?"

"Sure!"

"Antha and Trixie are still at that house..." I began, wary about driving on the mountain.

"Sorry about that man! I was just thinking that maybe I should have sent them elsewhere" he told me apologetically.

"Don't worry about it" I assured him.

"So you want to tell those girls that it's safe to go back home?"

"Among other things, yeah." I replied. "We gotta make sure they don't suspect a thing. Brian and Morlock can't ever know that we had anything to do with Elizabeth's leaving."

"Right"

"I'll meet you at your office?" I suggested.

"Okay.."

Our conversation soon ended, so it was just me, the radio, and the road. I really hoped that Mr. Fullerton did his research before hiring the deprogrammer.

After a very long drive, I finally arrived at Cal Sci. Charlie waited for me at his office. His costume, glasses, wig, and cane were on his desk. Larry was with him.

"Charles told me that you had him pretend to be a blind pyschic. To say that least, I was quite surprised"

"Civilian investigation requires a different playbook" I explained.

"It would seem that way." the physicist remarked. He sat near Charlie's desk.

"So..uh what do you need me to tell Antha and Trixie?" my brother asked.

"We gotta plan this carefully" I warned him. "It's too soon for you to tell them it's safe again. They can't suspect a thing!"

"Right.." Charlie nodded seriously. Before we could talk more, he got a call on his cell phone. By listening to his end, I figured out that it was the team at the office. Apologizing deeply, he went to go see them, and I went to the house to check on the girls. To my surprise, I found no one, but there was a note on the coffee table. It read

_"Don...thanks for everything. We've decided to hide out as well as we have been getting the heebie jeebies. Don't worry about us. Give Rick our Love!_

_XOXOXOX_

_Antha and Trixie"_

I worried about them, but there wasn't much I could do. Maybe their hiding out is for the best. At least they are out of Morlock's influence, on the other hand, but they didn't seem like the kind of people, who could do well while on the run. Then, I realized something.

"They're not being around helps Elizabeth." If I find them, then they'd ask me about looking for her, or how she is doing. Morlock could even get suspicious! So I checked for messages.

"Hi! My Name is Ben I need you to find the bastard who hit my beamer! My number is (213)333-8979

With a groan, I wrote down the number, and called. After all, the rent wasn't gonna pay itself right?

The End.

**A/n: Thank you for reading this story. It feels good to complete a fic I've started! Btw- I plan to write a sequel to Runaway pretty soon. Stay tuned!**


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